Rockets rally for victory after squandering lead

Chandler Parsons celebrates hitting a 3-pointer in overtime of the Rockets' victory over the Nuggets on Sunday night. He had eight of his 15 points in overtime.

Chandler Parsons celebrates hitting a 3-pointer in overtime of the...

By the time the Rockets noticed Denver was blowing them off the floor Sunday night at Toyota Center, the mystery was not how the Nuggets were doing it.

The Nuggets were playing harder, much harder. The question was how the Rockets managed not to pick up on that before there were just four minutes left and they had sleep-walked their way from a 17-point halftime lead to a 14-point hole.

But back in the second quarter, when the Rockets were going all out, they demonstrated how they could dominate. They hit the boards, forced turnovers and scored more points (47) than they have in the second quarter of any game in franchise history.

So when they had to, down 13 with four minutes left, the Rockets cranked it up one more time, rallying to a sudden, frantic comeback to force overtime and then surge past the Nuggets 130-125 for a win they could not quite celebrate. But they did believe it demonstrated the resilience they had lacked in similar circumstances this season.

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Guard Jeremy Lin said it would have been "devastating" to lose. Coach Kevin McHale said that getting a chance to force overtime took "a minor miracle." But with that 16-3 rush to tie the game, the Rockets put together a great escape.

Harden sets up OT

"We didn't give up," guard James Harden said. "We shouldn't have even put ourselves in that situation. We were up 17 going into halftime. We put ourselves in a terrible situation."

Pushed to the brink, the Rockets began frantically trapping the ball, forcing five turnovers in the final four minutes. After hitting 62.8 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Nuggets missed their last five of the game, never getting a good look.

"I think it was defense, really," Lin said. "We just got into them, tried to trap, speed them up, be aggressive."

Omer Asik, who had a season-high 18 points with a career-high 23 rebounds (matching his haul in Brooklyn on Wednesday), took a steal to a breakaway dunk. Lin took a steal to draw a foul, making two free throws to cut the Denver lead to two. After Randy Foye made one of two free throws, the Rockets set up an inbounds play designed to allow Harden to catch-and-shoot before the Nuggets could foul and send him to the line for two free throws.

But the Nuggets had no intention of fouling, Denver coach Brian Shaw said. Harden took just a moment and a quick dribble before nailing his 3 to tie the game.

"To have a guy like that on your team to close games is unbelievable," Chandler Parsons said. "It's a good feeling to have. Inbounding that last play, there was no way I wasn't getting him the ball. That's what he does. He's one of the best closers and best scorers in the NBA. I don't know why he's not in MVP talk."

The 3-pointer was Harden's third in the final minute this season with the Rockets down three or less, one shy of Kevin Durant's four for the most in the NBA.

"The more you have taken them the more comfortable you get in those situations," Harden said. "For me, I've been in those situations a lot this year and just having the confidence to go out there and shoot the shot or make the layup."

Parsons heats up

Once in overtime, the Rockets took control when Francisco Garcia sank a corner 3 and Parsons, who had been 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, hit a pair for an eight-point lead with 1:54 left - not that the Rockets were satisfied with needing OT 3s to win.

"It felt like we were in mud all night," Parsons said. "We have to be more consistent throughout the game. We can't allow them to go on big runs like that. When we get leads we have to extend them."

Still, if it was a half-full kind of a night, for the Rockets that was enough.

"I'm not sure if this team would have done that earlier in the season, come back," Lin said. "That's the evolution for us. To have a 29-point swing that we had tonight and be able to come back and win, that just shows a lot of grit. A lot of gutsy plays. It's unbelievable."